The University of Texas at El Paso proposes continuing support for its Border Biomedical Research Center (BBRC), to promote basic research on pathobiological problems prevalent in the Hispanic-majority population along the United States border with Mexico. The institution has assigned priority to research in the fields of (1) infectious diseases, (2) environmental toxicology, and (3) neuroscience and metabolic disorders - each of which will constitute a separate activity involving a total of 17 participants from the Departments of Biological Sciences and Psychology. Eight of the participants are new faculty members recruited for their potential to establish independently-funded research programs within five years. All proposed funding is designed to enhance the quantity and quality of biomedical research to a nationally competitive level for grant support. Multi-user Research Facilities in Molecular Cell Biology, Analytical Cytology, and Consulting Biostatistics with continue to provide shared use infrastructural support for BBRC participants in the three research activity areas. The goal of the BBRC is to become a center for excellence for research on pathobiological mechanisms of diseases prevalent int the Border region, to integrate the epidemiological perspective on human health and the applications of biostatistics with basic biomedical research, and to provide a strong research infrastructure in support of the newly inaugurated doctoral program in the Biological Sciences, so that the University of Texas at El Paso can serve as a major point of entry of Hispanics and other underrepresented minorities into the biomedical research mainstream of the nation.